HEALTHY LIVING
Clever storage ideas for small spaces
(Family Features) No matter how cramped and cluttered your living space may be, you can almost always find a spot or two for extra storage. It’s often just a matter of getting creative and utilizing a few clever solutions.
Consider these simple ideas to create some extra space in oft-used rooms:
Kitchen

- Metal rods with hanging hooks can create storage space on your blank walls. Use them to hang coffee cups, cooking utensils, dish towels or pots and pans.
- Magnetic strips mounted on the wall or the inside of a cabinet door can be a simple way to hang knives and free up counter space normally taken up by a knife block.
- If your countertop is cluttered with small spice containers and oil bottles, elevate them with a decorative cake stand. Place small jars below and top with pretty decanters and additional spices.
- If you’re using prime cabinet space for items you only use once a year, such as holiday cake pans or a big serving bowl you pull out for parties, consider storing them in the attic or a closet instead.
Bathroom
- Instead of hanging just one towel bar on the back of the bathroom door, hang multiple to maximize your drying space.
- Most modern cabinetry has adjustable shelving. If you haven’t customized the heights of your shelving to accommodate different sized bottles and containers, give it a try.
- A three-tiered fruit basket might seem perfect for the kitchen, but it’s also a handy way to store bathroom essentials right beside the sink.
- Flour and sugar canisters can also be repurposed in the bathroom to keep makeup, toiletries, cleaning supplies and soaps contained. Make sure to buy bins that stack easily.
Bedroom
- Nix those nightstands and hang small shelves on either side of the bed. This cuts down on the clutter you can keep and makes cleaning underneath a breeze.
- Rolling bins that fit under the bed are perfect for storing linens, out-of-season clothing and children’s toys. They’re also the perfect way to slide building block projects out of sight without destroying your child’s latest masterpiece.
- Closets with a single hanging rod are one of the biggest space-wasters in the bedroom. Double their storage capacity by hanging a second rod or shelf below shorter jackets and shirts.
Find more ideas to maximize your space at eLivingtoday.com.
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
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Family Features
HEALTHY LIVING
A lesson in kindness, inclusion and how kids eat differently
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(Feature Impact) The school year brings new classmates, routines and opportunities for children to learn about people whose experiences may be different from their own. They could include friends who use a wheelchair, carry an inhaler or even receive nutrition through a feeding tube.
Watch this video to learn more
For families who rely on tube feeding, it is an essential part of daily life but is often understood only by those who experience it. That limited awareness can leave children who are tube fed and their families feeling isolated or unseen, according to Gerard Minor, a pediatric gastroenterology and hepatology specialist.
Parents can use everyday questions as opportunities to help children understand there are many ways people receive nourishment. Teachers, classmates, caregivers and communities can also help make tube feeding part of the everyday conversation around childhood rather than something that separates children from it.
“Helping children understand those differences early can encourage curiosity, kindness and inclusion,” Minor said.
To help bring greater awareness, understanding and representation to children and families who experience tube feeding every day, Compleat, a leader in tube feeding formulas, launched “What Is Better Than How,” featuring “Sesame Street’s” Elmo and his signature warmth and curiosity. The original song celebrates the many ways people eat. Some people eat with a fork, some use a spoon and some use a tube, reinforcing a simple message: What matters is not how you eat. What matters is that you are nourished, loved and included.
To hear the song, create a personalized version and learn more about the campaign, visit Compleat.com/WhatIsBetterThanHow.

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HEALTHY LIVING
Dry eye: An overlooked perimenopause, menopause symptom
(Feature Impact) Dry eye is one of the most overlooked symptoms of perimenopause, the phase of fluctuating hormones leading up to a woman’s final period, and menopause, the point in a woman’s life when she’s gone a year without a period.
In fact, 79% of women1 recognize hot flashes as a symptom of menopause, but only 14% recognize dry eye as a menopause-related symptom, according to the 2026 Bausch + Lomb (Peri)Menopausal Survey. What’s more, 78% of women1 were surprised to learn that dry eye is a symptom of perimenopause or menopause.
“Dry eye is still widely overlooked as a symptom of menopause, and many women think it’s just a minor nuisance, but the truth is it can significantly affect your daily life,” said Neda Gioia, OD, CNS, IFMCP, FOWNS, founder, Integrative Vision. “Early symptoms are often misunderstood or self-treated but it’s very important for women who experience symptoms to see an eye doctor and get an accurate diagnosis and treatment.”
During perimenopause and menopause, declining hormone levels can impact tear production, tear quality and tear evaporation, contributing to dry eye symptoms including redness, fluctuating vision and a gritty or tired feeling in the eyes, all of which can impact day-to-day comfort and quality of life. If left untreated, dry eyes may worsen over time, potentially impacting eye health and vision. Among peri-, menopausal and post-menopausal women who experienced dry eye, 80% said the symptom came as a surprise.
Respondents reported their dry eye symptoms caused difficulty reading (58%), difficulty using screens (53%), difficulty driving (26%) and reduced productivity (17%), underscoring the often-overlooked impact dry eyes can have on everyday life.1
However, there are a variety of products and treatment approaches available to help manage dry eye symptoms. For example, Bausch + Lomb offers a range of options designed to address the main causes of dry eye.
A doctor-recommended, clinically proven once-daily soft gel supplement that targets the key root causes of dry eyes, Blink NutriTears supports healthy tear production and provides lasting, continuous relief.* § As part of a comprehensive approach to dry eye management, the supplement can be used with Blink Triple Care Preservative Free Lubricant Eye Drops, which are designed to directly address tear evaporation, one of the leading causes of dry eye, and provide instant and long-lasting symptom relief.
An eye care professional can help determine the approach that’s right for each individual. To learn more about dry eye and products to help combat it, visit JustBlink.com.
| *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. |
12026 Bausch & Lomb (Peri)Menopause Survey via Suzy, n=402; Women ages 30–80+ who are perimenopausal, menopausal, or post-menopausal
§Based on a clinical study

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HEALTHY LIVING
Life insurance is on the to-do list right after cleaning out the garage!
(Sheeka Sanahori) Being an adult comes with a never-ending list of responsibilities: Cook dinner. Scrub the bathroom. File taxes. The tasks grow even longer when sharing a household with a partner, building a family, or taking care of others. No matter how you define “adulting,” getting life insurance tends to be one part of the to-do list that keeps getting set on a procrastination loop.
New survey data backs that up: there are plenty of other tasks adults would rather focus on first.
The Adulting Task Americans Keep Avoiding
According to the 2026 Life Happens Life Insurance Survey, a financial literacy nonprofit organization, 39% of U.S. adults would rather clean out their email inbox than figure out their life insurance needs. Another 31% would rather clean out the garage or basement. One in five U.S. adults would be willing to sit on hold with customer service for three hours before life insurance planning. Even though many adults have it somewhere on their list, nearly half (46%) say they’ll either deal with it later or not at all.

They Know It Matters
Nearly a third of adults have already figured out a life insurance plan, and they feel good about their decision. Others are feeling more conflicted: 14% have a policy, but they’re not sure if they have enough. Another 12% say they either don’t know where to start or they think it’ll be too expensive.
It’s no wonder people are putting it off: Navigating a new-to-them form of financial planning can come with a lot of complicated emotions. Four in 10 feel either overwhelmed, anxious, or some combination of both. Sixteen percent of U.S. adults feel guilty for putting it off, but when the outcome is more procrastination, that feeling lingers.

Why Later Keeps Winning
If you’ve ever faced an important decision without having enough information to make an informed choice, you know how stressful it can be. While the generations have different takes on making major decisions with a gut feeling or “pure vibes,” most of the time, people want to feel like they’re making an informed choice. Forty-five percent of U.S. adults say cost concerns, confusion or procrastination are the main reasons they have delayed or would delay looking into life insurance. For more than one in five, the plan is to seriously look at it when they feel more financially stable. For 12%, they say they’ll do it when they’re older.

Men tend to feel more confident about their life insurance decisions to date; 53% of men vs. 41% of women feel confident their family would be financially protected.
The First Step Feels Bigger Than It Is
Learning more about life insurance, how it’s priced and how it works could help get many consumers out of their procrastination loop. A quarter of people say they’d make a decision if they learned it was easier to get than they previously thought. Thirty percent would make the purchase if they learned it was more affordable than they believed it to be. Others need an experienced professional to talk to or an online calculator tool to give them guidance.
Methodology: Life Happens commissioned Atomik Research to conduct an online survey of 2,000 adults, including 700 Gen Z respondents, 700 millennials, and 600 Gen X respondents throughout the United States. The margin of error for the overall sample is +/- 2 percentage points and +/- 4 percentage points for each generational sample, with a confidence level of 95 percent. Fieldwork took place between July 14 and July 20, 2026. Atomik Research, part of 4media group, is a creative market research agency.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock (couple using computer)
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